Every year, the digital space becomes more crowded, with businesses competing for a taste of online attention.
So, how does a company stand out in a market filled with similar products and essentially the same services?
The answer: search engine optimization.
SEO helps websites stay at the forefront of customers’ minds by driving more organic traffic, increasing visibility, and boosting revenue.
With SEO’s ever-evolving complexities, many companies face a dilemma: should they manage SEO in-house or outsource it to professionals?
Outsourcing your SEO gives you quick access to proven expertise, advanced tools, and a time-tested strategy. But is it the right move for your business?
Let’s dive into the pros, cons, and how-tos of SEO outsourcing so you can answer that by end of this article.
What Does SEO Outsourcing Mean?
SEO outsourcing is the business practice of commissioning third-party SEO freelancers, full-fledged SEO teams, or digital marketing agencies to handle a part of or a company’s complete SEO campaign.
While outsourcing SEO services offers many benefits, it may not always be applicable.
For instance, short-staffed startups with limited budgets might find hiring third-party SEO specialists more economically viable than hiring and training an in-house team.
Conversely, highly niched industries with complex products might find it challenging to outsource external experts with deep knowledge of their market. In this case, training in-house experts makes more sense.
It depends. If your company falls under the former, perhaps outsourcing SEO services offers more incentives.
Keep reading because we’ll break down the benefits and drawbacks of SEO outsourcing:
Benefits of Outsourcing SEO Services
1. Leverage industry expertise
Both independent specialists or marketing agencies have honed their SEO expertise through training and years of experience. In other words, outsourcing means you significantly minimize the learning curve, unlike training an in-house team.
More often than not, established SEO professionals only need to familiarize themselves with your company and market, then tweak their proven strategy accordingly before implementation.
Contrary to popular belief, SEO involves more than publishing helpful content, creating internal links, or building backlinks.
It requires specialized knowledge, staying up-to-date on algorithm changes, keeping in step with newly emerged best practices, and monitoring industry trends. All of which would be difficult for in-house personnel wearing different hats.
2. Cost-effectiveness
While outsourcing SEO services also entail an investment, it is more economically effective in the short and medium term than maintaining an in-house team. Outsourcing eliminates the need to hire, train, and retain team members, especially if you only need quick results.
However, if you belong in a competitive niche and see SEO as an indefinite goal, it might make more sense to invest in training an in-house team.
3. Allows you to focus attention on core business activities
SEO is only one facet in a plethora of business practices. Pouring your efforts into SEO might jeopardize other aspects of your business.
By outsourcing SEO, entrepreneurs can focus on their primary operations while third-party experts handle search optimization.
4. Access to advanced tools
SEO professionals and agencies often invest in premium SEO tools to streamline their processes.
In addition to the financial investment, many of these tools have a steep learning curve before mastery. Moreover, many of them offer zero business value outside of the SEO bubble, like a keyword research tool or automated internal linking software.
Buying a subscription on these tools might be costly or complex for individual businesses to manage independently. Meanwhile, you immediately gain access to them when you outsource SEO services.
Disadvantages of Outsourcing SEO Services
1. Lack of industry-specific knowledge
The effectiveness of an SEO campaign depends heavily on the expert’s familiarity of the business, products, and market. A lack of expertise somewhere in this trifecta will be apparent to the target audience, resulting in a generic or less effective campaign.
For instance, an SEO agency that primarily works with companies selling duvet covers might excel in optimizing for home décor keywords.
But the same company may struggle to understand the technical nuances and target audience of a business specializing in the sale of firearms, like a Remington 870.
It’s best to outsource SEO specialists involved or at least familiar with your niche for the best results and least loose ends.
2. Less control over processes
Every specialist or company has their proprietary method for managing SEO campaigns.
While some of them recalibrate their strategy according to the client’s niche, creating a tailored approach, many might implement a one-size-fits-all approach. This might significantly reduce the campaign’s effectiveness and waste time, money, and resources.
Moreover, since they are an independent entity, business owners might feel disconnected from the outsourced team’s day-to-day operations. This makes it a little challenging to monitor or adjust strategies in real time.
3. Dependency on external providers
SEO is an ever-evolving and highly volatile niche. One algorithm update from Google and all the efforts can be undone.
For this, and among other reasons, not all SEO experts can deliver on their promises or meet target KPIs. Unfortunately, this leaves your business vulnerable if the agency fails to deliver or suddenly terminates the partnership.
4. Potential for ethical concerns
Not all agencies are the same.
Unvetted companies might employ black-hat SEO tactics, which involves keyword stuffing or using PBNs. This might expose your website to Google penalties. In extreme cases, this can result in indexing issues for your website.
Other ethical concerns involve content plagiarism, where the outsourced providers recycle content from competitors, violating copyright laws, harming your brand’s reputation, and resulting in duplicate content.
Some companies might even go as far as falsifying performance data to show better results. For instance, they might build backlinks from low-authority sites.
To prevent this, it pays to invest in backlink monitoring tools, like Linkody, which tracks not only the source and target of the backlink, but also shows essential metrics, including: Moz DA, spam score, rel attribute, anchor text, etc.
How to Choose an Agency or Specialist for SEO Outsourcing? (Step-by-step)
1. Define your SEO goals
Clearly outline what you want to achieve.
Are you looking to improve organic traffic? Do you need to conduct a major sitewide content revamp? Do you want to expand your targeted keywords? Is boosting conversions your main goal?
Whatever it is, you want to have a clear understanding of your objectives, so outsourced personnel can reverse engineer its way back to your current situation.
2. Research and shortlist agencies
When looking for agencies, you want to consider a few things:
- A proven track record, preferably accompanied by case studies explaining their how they met KPIs
- Positive client testimonials or reviews
- Alignment or experience handling campaigns relevant to your niche
If any of the above are not met, skip and move on to the next agency.
Look for agencies with a proven track record, positive client testimonials, and case studies relevant to your industry.
Verify their expertise in areas like technical SEO, content creation, and link building.
3. Evaluate their SEO strategies and skillset
After you’ve come up with a shortlist, interview each specialist or agency about their skillset.
Verify their expertise in the three major SEO facets: on-page, off-page, and technical SEO.
Inquire about what tools they use, like Ahrefs or Screaming Frog, and how each tool in their tech stack influences the success of their campaigns.
More importantly, ask about their approach to SEO, ensuring they only use ethical and white-hat SEO tactics.
4. Request a proposal or audit
If they offer free SEO audits, much better. You can use this initial evaluation to gauge how well they can decipher your SEO needs.
Make sure the audit includes a detailed proposal that outlines the strategies they will employ to help you reach your SEO goals. Ask for a timeline and expected periodic outcomes or KPIs.
5. Discuss the pricing and contract terms
Clarify their pricing model. Do they prefer a retainer fee, project-based pricing, or performance-based payments?
Whatever it is, ensure it aligns with your budget and the deliverables can be realistically met within your contract’s duration.
Review the contract as well to find the terms of termination or dispute resolution.
6. Ideally start with a trial period
While many SEO agencies will prefer a lock-in period, try to negotiate if a smaller project or a limited-scope engagement is a viable option before a full-fledged campaign. This will allow you to evaluate their performance and assess their compatibility with your business.
7. Monitor performance regularly
Use analytics tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track key performance metrics.
If possible, invest in other SEO-related performance analytics tools, so you can check and balance their performance reports to the actual data.
Here are a few essential tools that might be helpful:
- Screaming Frog (site audit tool)
- Linkody (backlink monitoring tool)
- IndexCheckr (SERP monitoring tool)
Schedule periodic performance reviews to discuss progress and adjust strategies as needed.
If necessary, renegotiate terms or consider switching agencies if the results don’t meet expectations.
So, Is Outsourcing SEO the Right Strategy for Your Business?
Outsourcing SEO can be a game-changer for businesses aiming to stay competitive in a crowded digital space.
Partnering with seasoned experts means gaining access to specialized knowledge and advanced tools that can help save time and money, especially for startups with limited budgets and without in-house expertise.
But like any other strategies, it’s not always unicorns and rainbows but comes with associated risks.
For instance, industries requiring highly specialized needs might face challenges concerning niche familiarity. Moreover, entrusting trade secrets and proprietary data to external personnel might be a risky move.
Ultimately, the decision depends on your goals, budget, and whether you prioritize immediate results or long, slow, and steady growth.
So, based on these premises, is outsourcing SEO the right choice for you?